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06/04/2008 04:50:31 AM · #1 |
I have a general question for entering shots to DPC.
How often and when should I sharpen the image?
At present I sharpen a little at full resolution then sharpen again when resized.
Is this the correct (best) way to do it?
I also add a border after sharpening, at the resize stage.
Should I add the border at full resolution then resize?
So many questions and not enough answers.....
Regards.........
Glenn |
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06/04/2008 05:12:53 AM · #2 |
57 times is normal for me. 6-;
Tell the truth there is no 'best way' of doing things. it all boils down to what your preference is and what your eye sees.
Personally, I will sharpen at size, and only sometimes will sharpen again after resize. Though it seems, I only do that for DPC anyway. Its those darn sharpen Nazis.
Borders, I tend to do only after resize, because I do not sale prints. Much less sale prints with borders. Though if someone wanted I could add.
Lastly... forget everything just have fun.
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06/04/2008 05:38:40 AM · #3 |
As a general rule, never sharpen until you've resized.
Here's a quick tutorial that includes a few ordered steps.
For a lot of those other questions - you can check the main tutorial page or the How'd they do that section. |
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06/04/2008 06:23:12 AM · #4 |
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06/04/2008 08:48:21 AM · #5 |
Yeah, I don't think you're doing your photo any favors with multiple USMs or other sharpening methods. Generally, after you've done most or all your other editing steps, including resizing as roba said, then sharpen. If I'm prepping an image for printing, I USM at something like 200, .6, 0. If for a web (lower res) version, then 100, 1, 0.
I often use USM to enhance contrast too, though you have to be careful with this because it can really blow highlights; 35, 95, 5. |
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06/04/2008 08:59:51 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by strangeghost:
I often use USM to enhance contrast too, |
Funny, I do the opposite, using levels and curves to enhance sharpness.
I only sharpen after resizing. I guess it also depends on the lens you're shooting with. If a pic is sharp at full resolution, there is no need to sharpen, right?
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06/04/2008 10:11:07 AM · #7 |
USM on the original file usually as the first step. This is to offset the softening of the bayer filter. Canon used to recommend .3, 300%, 0 but on my 40D i find I like 150% or so, .4 and 1-5 depending on the image (portraits get 5, landscapes 1). This isn't very agressive. One note is I shoot RAW and use DPP for conversion to JPG so that my picture style settings are kept and applied to final image. I use a sharpening of 3 there. I can make prints from this as-is with no sharpening and they're fine. I normally only sharpen images for the use on the web, but this first pass works on print images.
After all teh editing and resizing (for the web) I run the same USM routine again and sometimes adjust the radius to .9 or the amount down some depending on what it looks like. Wedding veils behave differently than do water scenes for example.
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06/04/2008 10:14:06 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by Camabs:
Funny, I do the opposite, using levels and curves to enhance sharpness.
I only sharpen after resizing. I guess it also depends on the lens you're shooting with. If a pic is sharp at full resolution, there is no need to sharpen, right? |
Levels and curves enhance contrast and or exposure, NOT sharpness. There is an Anti-Alie filter (aka bayer filter) on a sensor that is there to soften the image are reduce/eliminate moire. If you shoot something with a lot of lines it (skyscrapers, certain clothing, etc) the lines in the subject can align with the rows of photosites and create an odd pattern in the image. This filter reduces that at the expense of sharpness.
If you shoot JPG the camera will sharpen the JPG (often you can adjust how much in camera). If you shoot RAW then you need to sharpen it yourself to reverse the effect of this filter.
After resizing the image has been interpolated (up or down) so the clear sharp deliniation you had to start with is gone - the computer has to average pixels next to eachother during the resize. What was 2888 pixels wide is not perhaps 700. 2,188 pixels got tossed but the image look the same so something got tossed out and something got guessed at. So you need to resharpen one last time, especially for web use.
Message edited by author 2008-06-04 10:16:28.
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06/04/2008 12:41:34 PM · #9 |
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06/05/2008 09:47:32 AM · #10 |
I keep in camera/DPP sharpening to zero and use only the unsharp mask to counteract the AA filter.
The in camera sharpening seems to be proficient at increasing visible noise when compared to using only the USM. |
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